Last week at the Rolling Home Rally was almost like a seven-year-itch for Splash@B. She was giving me all kinds of hints that I needed to make some changes. This is my 7th camping season in her and even though nothing major has gone wrong, there were a few warning signs on Sunday that that was about to change!

I've been having some issues with the three interior lights this entire camping season. The left rear one wouldn't come on at all, the right one on Becky's side was iffy, and the one in the galley kitchen seemed to be super bright all the time.

On Sunday night, my World Friendship Converter started making scary, struggling noises and the lights would go dim and then bright again. The Norcold fridge was struggling to keep things cool too. Toolbelt Sue, Gid, Sandra, and Geo did some troubleshooting at the power post, but all checked out as being OK.

The consensus was that my converter was going bad. So Becky and I moved stuff to the cooler and turned off everything 12 volt. The rest of our evening was uneventful thank goodness.

Before our 10:30 a.m. tour of the Little Guy factory, I chatted with Scott Hubble and Ed Kaufman about getting my converter replaced while there, offering to pay someone to come to the campground to do the installation. After the tour, Ed told me that Dale, one of the Amish workers, would come out to Atwood Lake Park after his shift on Tuesday and do the work for me. I couldn't believe my good fortune!!

Dale preparing to take out the old WFCO unit

I asked Dale's permission to hang inside the window and watch. I also asked if it was OK to snap some photos along the way and he was good with that too.

Old converter is out and only a few wires remain to be disconnected

New converter is in and Dale is making new connections

In about 45 minutes, my new converter was in place! Dale turned his attention next to replacing my three old lights with new adjustable, LED reading lights. They fit the space perfectly and covered the old screw holes.

In order to get them off the wall, we had to sacrifice the plastic shade, but that didn't bother me one bit. We did salvage the one in the kitchen and I gave it to Geo. Soft light, no heat, with the ability to point in all directions, classy looking . . . I LOVE them!!

Becky's finicky light with the plastic shade

New light on my side pointing outward

Becky's new reading light that has a cool vibe!

Galley light installed

The last item on my repair list was to remove the box that held the fire extinguisher. It sat inside the wheel well right at the door and was held in place by staples. Yep, staples! A couple seasons ago, those staples failed and the box pulled away from the frame. It was kinda wedged in place inside the wheel well, but it rattled terribly.

It's been my intention all along to take the fire extinguisher out and snitch a mod idea from Geo. He moved his into the lower cabinet under the refrigerator where it is easily accessible. I have always wanted to be able to pull my bed slats out the opening instead of removing the cushion and opening the storage lid. Several people told me that I wouldn't have room to pull them out, but I knew otherwise.

When I found out that Little Guy had a cabinet door to put over the opening that was the perfect size and would match all my other doors, it was a no-brainer . . . that fire extinguisher was history!!

Box is OUT...that pesky extinguisher is about to be moved!

It took Dale all of five minutes to install the new door and it's a perfect match!!

So what do you think? Are you as impressed with Little Guy as I am!! I have said over and over that I wouldn't hesitate to pull SplashT@B back to Sugarcreek if I ever need major work done and now you can understand why I made that statement.

In addition to my converter, lights and cabinet door, I also got a set of window arms to replace a set that has almost stopped working, and Ed fixed a window screen that would not release and raise properly.

Throughout the week, lots of T@Bbers were having work done . . . new AC units installed, old doors replaced with new doors featuring the new handle & lock mechanism, window shades repaired, diamond-plated rock guards installed, support added to droopy ceilings, entertainment centers added. It was simply amazing at all the things being done for us!!

Gid and Terry install a new window shade on their new door

John and Sandy's new ceiling supports are functional as well as beautiful

Drop down TV with DVD player, radio, and clock

Thanks for coming by every day this week for your Post-Rolling Home Postcard. Becky and I are off tomorrow on a secret mission, so I'll take the day off from chatting with you. Plan on coming back on Sunday when I'll resume sharing our Rolling Home Tour with you.

Howdy everyone on this steamy Thursday in NC. All I can say is thank goodness we didn't have this heat and humidity last week on the Rolling Home Tour!

Several times through the week, Becky and I had the opportunity to explore the Amish communities and countryside. We sampled some of their food, shopped in their markets, and drove the back roads where we saw neatly manicured lawns, clothes drying on the line, children playing barefooted, and men working their fields.

The great majority of the photos I took were ones captured while hanging out the car window as Becky drove. I wanted to respect the privacy of the Amish and not be a rude tourist, but still experience the peace and beauty surrounding them.

Here are some of the images I snapped...

Tomorrow I'll be telling you all about the work I had done on SplashT@B while at the rally, so I hope you'll stop by to pick up that Postcard. See ya then!!

One week ago, twelve T@Bbers hit the road for Cleveland for a day trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Even though Becky and I had been there in September of 2009, it's the kind of place that you can visit over and over.

The Rock Hall as seen from the pier where we parked

Cleveland...the birthplace of rock and roll

Plaza in front of the Rock Hall

My buddies Sandra and Rich

The last time we were there, the main exhibition was Bruce Springsteen. On this trip, it was "The Rolling Stones 50 Years of SATISFACTION"

The world's greatest rock and roll band

50 years of satisfaction!

The boys...Charlie, Keith, Mick, & Ronnie

Mick Jagger himself

On the lower level of the Rock Hall we watched an introductory film called "The Mystery Train". We strolled through an Elvis exhibit, saw the Legends of Rock and Roll (Beatles, Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Doors, U2, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Who, Supremes), learned about Cities and Sounds, Sun and Atlantic Record Labels, and the Music of Cleveland and the Midwest. Concert clothing, guitars, songs scribbled on paper, posters, album covers, videos, performances on small screens...it's a treat for the music lover!

Roots of rock and roll exhibit

Guitars of rock legends

This way to the Elvis exhibit

Do you remember this jumpsuit?

The Cream...my all-time fav group

The King's car and video of him riding in it

The Beatles exhibit

Beatles' clothes, albums, guitars, memorabilia

Beatles' lunchbox, pennants, albums, posters

John Lennon's scribbles on a guitar

Atlantic Records display

Jimi Hendrix outfits

After spending considerable time on the lower level, we walked up to Level 2 where we saw the Architects of Rock and Roll (Les Paul, Alan Freed and Sam Phillips). There were lots of interactive listening exhibits here and a half dozen floor to ceiling cases displaying the history of Rolling Stone magazine.

Cleveland DJ Alan Freed who coined the phrase "rock and roll"...king of the Moondoggers

Did you go to sleep with a transistor radio like me?

Rolling Stone covers and articles in the 2000's

Becky and I had gotten separated from the rest of our gang, so when we got to Level 3 we decided to take a break for lunch at the cafe. Inside, you can look over the rail down into the Museum Store, outside you have a view of the harbor and Lake Eire. Within minutes, everyone was together on the deck for lunch!

Cafe with interesting architecture

Looking down on rack and racks of CDs

What cool table decorations!

Our beautiful Cleveland day

The T@B Gang rides again!

After lunch we headed over to the Inductees exhibit where we saw video highlights of past induction ceremonies, a wall of their signatures, and display cases featuring artifacts from the latest class.

Hall of Fame Inductees

Donna Summer memorabilia

More memorabilia

Rock Hall architecture

Up on Level 5 and 6 was the special Rolling Stones exhibit. It was like having a backstage pass to their history, music, instruments, tours, outfits and clothing, and much more!

Do you remember that fur vest?

Mick's outfit

Tour schedule in 2002

Keith Richard's guitar

Mick's outfit

Concert poster

One of my favorite Sirius/XM stations is channel 26, Classic Vinyl. The Alan Freed Radio Studio is located on Level 5 and their DJ rotation broadcasts live from here daily. My favorite is Dusty Street, but she has the weekend shift. We did get to see Nancy Alden and she gave us a big wave while we were standing there!

Nancy Alden...classic vinyl afternoon DJ

You can see the clock behind her that says 2:30. We were approaching four hours in the Rock Hall and it was time for some shopping and group photo. We weren't able to locate Bridget and Ed, but we did gather everyone else!

Rock on T@Bbers!!

Thanks for hanging in there for an especially long Postcard! Tomorrow I'll chat with you about our exploration of the beautiful Amish countryside. See ya Thursday!!

Today, let's go back over to Sugarcreek and visit Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers once again. Last week I shared oodles and oodles of T@B photos HERE. Everyone on our 10:30 tour was a T@Bber, but we still wanted to see the Little Guy production line.

Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers...production home for T@Bs and Little Guys

Even though I didn't take as many shots of the teardrops, I do have some to share with you.

Geo, Joy, and Sandra checking out a little one

The 6x10 Silver Shadow

Galley kitchen with all the amenities

Six Little Guys all in a row

Teardrop deck with vinyl flooring installed

AC unit installed

Finished interior

Wooden template for attaching the sides and frame

That's the converter sitting in the cabinet on the countertop

In 2002, Little Guy burst onto the teardrop scene. They currently have seven different models available and the largest distribution network of any manufacturer of teardrop camper trailers in the world, with dealers located in over 30 US states and international dealers spread throughout Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Europe.

As with our T@Bs, the skill of the Amish craftsmen and the materials they use, is beyond compare. I have a few friends with Little Guy trailers and they will tell you the same thing. They love their little rigs as much as we love our T@Bs!

Sitting on the back lot ready for transport

Four Little Guys loaded and one more waiting...all coming to a dealership near you!!

I hope your day is going well and as always, I thank you very much for dropping in to pick up your Postcard. Tomorrow I'll share our day trip to Cleveland and the groovy time we had at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.

I gotta tell you that off and on all year and even up until June, I was having doubts about attending the Rolling Home Rally. I tried over and over to get information about the campground, the area we would be parked in, the facilities in that area, and other issues. In the end, those questions weren't answered by the rally organizer, but Little Guy stepped up to the plate and put on a fabulous event.

Knowing that I would be with my best friends was the ultimate factor in the decision to go. Little Guy put on a great first-time rally and if I had not gone, I would have regretted it tremendously.

They erected a huge tent where they had accessories for sale, where we could always find a staff member when we had questions or needed help, and it even served as the wine and cheese party tent when showers moved in on Thursday evening.

We were given welcome bags when we arrived that had some Rolling Home happies inside. Personally, I would liked to have had name tags, but that's a suggestion I have for next year.

On Wednesday evening, we had DJ Dave Glen, "That Radio Guy" who took requests and spun the tunes. He had trivia contests and I actually won one of them. I got another bag of happies!

In addition to the bags of happies, Little Guy had a big cookout for us Monday evening and because they had so many leftovers, they fed us again Tuesday evening!

In addition to the cookouts, Dave the DJ, the wine and cheese party, vendor day, free t-shirts, and the potluck with awards, each night there were drawings for prizes.

Here's a sneak preview about the Postcards I'll be sending you this week...

- Tuesday: the Little Guy production line in the Sugarcreek plant- Wednesday: our day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland - Thursday: photos from our exploration of the Amish countryside- Friday: modifications on SplashT@B and other T@Bs as well- Saturday: details about Atwood Lake Park

Becky, SplashT@B, and I are safely back home from the fabulous Rolling Home Rally in Ohio. We left about 8:45 this morning tucked in behind Rich, Sue, and Happy Camper. It's always nice to travel with other T@Bbers and we stayed together until they peeled off for Pittsboro just south of Fancy Gap, VA.

The majority of unpacking and putting away of camping gear will happen tomorrow. Tonight, all I want to do is just chill and pull together another Rolling Home Postcard for you.

This rally was identified on our t-shirts as "Tearstock" and there was a little teardrop camper on it...a Little Guy trailer. I'm not exactly sure how many LGs were among us, but they were tucked here and there and I got the opportunity to meet and chat with several of their owners.

I don't know very much about Little Guys. I learned at the plant tour that they come in 4, 5, and 6 feet wide models. It's pretty cool to see them set up under tents and tarps and I think there's a lot of creativity happening in terms of living space.

One day this week I'll share the Little Guy line that we saw in operation during our plant tour last Monday.

I gotta scoot and finish the first of two loads of laundry I've got going. Thanks for traveling along with me last week and please come back for more Rolling Home reports this coming week.

Today was one of those almost perfect days from start to finish. We spent the entire day exploring the Amish countryside in several counties, but the way we started our day was pretty special.

A whole bunch of us drove to the nearby historic village of Zoar to have breakfast with the Zoar Volunteer Fire Department. They were having a fund raising breakfast, so we decided to help out their cause and get a good meal in trade. It was billed as an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast, but they also served eggs, hash browns, and sausage.

I don't eat pancakes, so I think they put a triple order of scrambled eggs on my plate!!

Good eats . . . firehouse style!

Add some coffee, water, and a carton of chocolate milk to my breakfast and I had trouble cleaning my plate. The firemen snapped our photo and within minutes we were gracing their Facebook page. You can scoot over there and see it HERE.

Our T@B crew enjoying a great five buck breakfast

Becky and Nathan

Carie

James and Marilyn

Tom and Vickie

Becky

Rich and Sue

Anne

Sandra and Cindy

Bridget and Ed

Zoar Volunteer Fire Department banner

Bob gets a personal tour of the firehouse

Our cooking firemen

Our John . . . always the entertainer

Terry and Susan

Sandy and John

The campground is a little lonely this evening because just about everyone has headed home. We are packed and will be pulling out with Rich and Sue about 8:00 to make our way home to NC.

Thank you so very much for faithfully picking up your Rolling Home Postcard each evening. Look for more rally Postcards in the days to come as I finish telling you about our grand adventure here in Ohio!

Our potluck supper this evening marked the official end to the first Rolling Home Rally here in Ohio. We have had a tremendous week and I have so many more Postcards to share with you about it.

This evening I want to tell you some exciting news. We've known all week that awards would be given out after supper for four categories...the T@B or Little Guy traveling the farthest distance, the Jim Harvey Award for the best modifications on a trailer, the best T@B campsite and the best Little Guy campsite. Everyone here had the opportunity to vote.

T@Bbers Joy and Dale from Seattle won the traveling award, but weren't here to receive it because they left this morning at 4:00 a.m. to head back to Seattle where Joy starts her teaching job on Tuesday.

We were thrilled when they announced that Gid and Terry won the Jim Harvey Award for all the work Gid did on their T@B. Many of you know that he completely restored Rosie the Clamshell after extensive water damage. Tomorrow is Gid's birthday, so it's a pretty cool present.

Geo and Liz took home the award for the best T@B campsite. I shared their photo with you the other evening, but here it is again, so you can see why the T@B-mahal won! Liz has picked up her second major award of the 2013 season . . . the first was champion of the Eileen Pierce Memorial Corn Hole Tournament at last spring's Blue Ridge Rally!

A lot of folks pulled out yesterday and today for various reasons and a bunch more will be leaving tomorrow. We're not hitting the road until Sunday morning, so please come back tomorrow evening for another Postcard.

Becky and I stayed pretty close to home today. With several vendors present, folks were strolling around looking at fabrics for new cushions, chatting with the Little Guy folks, and looking over merchandise in the tent.

Terry & Gid picking out new fabric for Rosie

Checking out Dan Weaver's fabrics and daydreaming about new cushions

Several Amish workers were back among us doing repairs, adding new features, and making modifications on many T@Bs.

I was sitting at the picnic table doing a bit of journaling and a tall fellow walked up and asked, "Are you Sharon? Sharon with the famous SplashT@B?" I said yes, and he said, "I'm Jeff from Paha Que." I have talked to Jeff many times on the phone, chatted online, and zipped emails back and forth. I am his "best east coast customer" and he sought me out to chat with me in person!!

Me and my buddy Jeff from Paha Que in San Diego, CA

When he introduced himself, he gave me a big hug and we chatted for a long, long time about Paha Que products for the T@B, their wonderful customer service, and much more.

Becky and I strolled around the campground, looking at all the Little Guys and T@Bs, while meeting some new people in the process. We were looking at the Little Guys to figure out who to nominate for one of the big awards that will be given tomorrow night.

Becky and Sue test driving a Little Guy

I'm not sure I could only sit or lie down inside . . . I kinda like standing up

Cute flag hanging outside a Little Guy trailer

Dane & Elaine's map . . . they need a NC sticker!!

The Elswerths' yellow T@B . . .

. . . and their welcome mat

Sally and Roger with their clamshell

We all love this sharp black and white 2012 Little Guy T@B

My new friend, Karen, from Canada

Karen's awesome awning made using my pattern!

Several of us headed over to the Lighthouse Bistro for lunch and sat on the covered porch during the rain storm that rolled in about 1:00. We spent the afternoon in John and Sandy's screen room hanging out with all our friends before heading to the wine and cheese party.

I'll save all my lunch and afternoon photos for another Postcard tomorrow. Y'all have a great evening and I'll chat with you later.

I am totally, absolutely all funned out! That's a phrase that Liz used several years ago on the last night of our Gettysburg Caravan and it is so appropriate this evening.

We spent the day at the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and when we rolled back home after five o'clock, a DJ was spinning tunes and we danced for a couple hours. I am totally, absolutely all funned out!!

I will share this musical Postcard with you one evening next week, but in the meantime, let me show you what you would see if you were here with us this week...

SplashT@B waking up in the morning

Amish bread for breakfast compliments of John

Terry, John and Gid having an early morning conversations

Anne's Barbie camper

Lil Red T@Boose's red decor

James and Marilyn's homestead

Bridget starting her day at just the right pace

Mornin' Susan . . . mornin' Bob

Geo and his T@B-mahal

Rich and Sue's Happy Camper decor

I couldn't agree more you two . . .

Rockin' the rally with Kevin and Sandy from VA

Dane and Elaine's home away from home

All the way from Seattle, it's Joy and Dale

Gotta have a little Spl@sh in my life

Tomorrow I plan to sleep a little later, stick closer to home, meet some new T@Bbers, peep in some little teardrops, and hang out with my peeps. See ya later!!

I am.....

~ always dreaming about the next road trip~ looking for a cool, one-of-a-kind place to stop and eat~ seeing what's right around the next bend~ searching for that perfect photo~ exploring interesting new places~ playing tourist~ learning something every day~ having so much fun it should be illegal~ making memories with my friends